Judge orders Ventana Grill in Pismo Beach closed amid safety concerns

September 6, 2026

By KAREN VELIE

With concerns that Ventana Grill in Pismo Beach could fall into the ocean, on Aug. 27 a judge ordered the restaurant to shut down. The closure of the popular event center has left many brides and event hosts scrambling for new venues.

Management at Custom House’s Ventana Grill has painted the issue as a dispute with their landlord. CCC, the landlord, argues they are protecting the public from “serious injury or death.”

In a motion for an injunction filed on Aug. 13, CCC accuses Custom House of prioritizing profits over public safety.

“The stakes here are real,” CCC wrote in the Aug. 13 motion. “The action here is not a mere lease dispute arising from alleged economic harm. This matter is about ending a completely avoidable threat to human lives in Pismo Beach.

“While Custom House seemingly remains content to wait for the worst to happen–all while it continues to profit from the daily work of the very people it is putting at risk–the CCC parties cannot stand by in perpetuity and hope for the best.”

Custom House has leased the property since 2012 under a long-term lease.

A balcony failure in Dec. 2023, led CCC to engage structural engineers to determine the safety of the decks, which were then closed.

On April 26, 2024, a section of the bluff face broke off and fell into the ocean, according to court records. A subsequent investigation discovered a sea cave directly under the restaurant building.

CCC contacted Custom House on July 17, 2025 with a request they immediately shut down all Ventana Grill operations. Planned repairs were expected to take more than six months.

Planned repairs to Ventana Grill building in Pismo Beach

However, Custom House argued the building was not unsafe and that CCC was attempting to get out of their lease.

During an inspection in 2025, “GeoKinetics identified signs of cracking, distress and deterioration,” according to the motion. The conditions support findings by GeoKinetics and others “that a toppling event is inevitable and materially increase the risk that such bluff-failure event will precipitate partial or total structural collapse of the restaurant building.”

On Aug. 27, San Luis Obispo Superior Court Judge Craig van Rooyen ordered Custom House’s Ventana Grill to close by 5 p.m. on Sept. 18.

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